The Ikarus 200s have been walking the roads of Budapest for fifty years
On December 20, 1971, the 260 and articulated version of the Ikarus, the 280, was unveiled at BKV. These were still the prototypes that arrived in the capital for a year of testing. The buses have worked, which is no wonder: for Ikarus, the 200 series was by far the most successful. It is no exaggeration to say that thanks to this family of models, the Hungarian bus manufacturer has become known all over the world. In Hungary, for decades, these buses have defined the street image – both in the countryside and in Budapest. BKV bought the first twenty Ikarus 260s in 1972, the first series 280s followed their peers in 1973.
At BKV, this is such a defining series that between 1980 and 1987, with the exception of one test bus, the staff of the capital’s transport company consisted only of 200 Ikars, with the vast majority of 260s and 280s in Budapest. The significance of the two types is shown by the fact that Ikarus drove 2393 out of 260 and 1697 out of 280 in the capital, so more than four thousand of the two models turned up at BKV.
Many designs
The length of the Ikarus 260 solo bus is 11 meters, and the bus can carry 97 passengers. The 260.00, 260.45 and 260.46 versions in Budapest all had three doors, first with an accordion and later with a planetary door (the subtype of the purchased buses used from Debrecen was 260.30M). The different doors meant only the most striking change in the appearance of buses over the decades, but from wheels and tires to the color of the handrails and interior lighting to the seats, a lot has changed on the Ikarus 260 and 280 from the factory, and later on. At BKV during various renovations.
The 16.5-meter-long articulated bus 280 can carry 145 people, and the Budapest versions received 280.00 and 280.49. The four-door buses also rolled off the production line at first with a crease door and later with a planetary door. Interestingly, only two of the BKV’s 280 had a wrist guard, nicknamed an umbrella.
It wasn’t designed for that long
The fact that these two types are still in daily traffic in Budapest is mainly due to the deteriorating financial situation of BKV. The buses were initially scrapped after running 425 and 450,000 kilometers, and this was later pushed to 600,000 kilometers. This typically means that the buses were retired after a few years, so until the 1990s the local transport of rural towns was carried out from Budapest at a young age – in Kecskemét, Nyíregyháza, Tatabánya or Győr, but Volánbusz its predecessor also used these buses taken over from BKV in long-distance traffic until the 2010s. However, by the 1980s, the financial situation of BKV had started to deteriorate, so the previous standards could no longer be met, he points out. 100 years of bus transport in the capital publication.
It is characteristic of the deterioration of the situation of BKV that already in the 2000s the capital transport company bought Ikarus 280 from Miskolc for the renovation of the M2 metro line, and later BKV bought 260 and 263 in Debrecen, while VT-Transman 280 from Pécs and a 284 from Pécs, and the interesting thing about the end of the 2000s was that Volánbusz retained at the time of the time the company acquired from the capital used.
The situation is also well illustrated by the fact that before the 1990s, it was rare for a bus in Budapest to hit the roads for ten years, and even in 2000, the Ikarus 260 with BPO-103 was the first to survive. twenty years – the vehicle also received a special decoration for this occasion. As of December 2021, there are several Ikarus 260s and 280s in the BKV portfolio that are older than 30 years.
There are barely a dozen Ikarus 260s left for the fiftieth anniversary, and far more than fifty Ikarus 280s – this is mainly due to the renovation of the M3 metro as the buses are released from the replacement of the metro line, and the Ikarus 20s in Budapest say goodbye. roads.
They do not disappear without a trace
In addition to buses, trolleys are also worth mentioning: a significant amount of the Ikarus trolleybus version 280 was used in Budapest, and more than thirty of them remain today. Unless large quantities of trolleys are procured by the end of the metro replacement, it is easy for the Ikarus 280T-GVM trolleybuses to remain the longest on the roads of the capital for the 200 Series announcers.
However, the model family will not disappear without a trace: BKV and private collectors have preserved many Ikarus 260s and 280s in Budapest for posterity. Among other things, the former BPO-103 mentioned above has also been renovated, but the accordion and planetary door version has also remained from the 280. In fact, between 1998 and 2008, A copy of the early red, with its silver arrow paint, reminiscent of the early to mid-2000s, was left with a distinctive red paint that served on 173 flights.
Undoubtedly, in the 21st century, when electric buses are starting to spread in Hungary, the Ikarus 200 looks anachronistic and is truly outdated despite numerous renovations – time has simply passed over them. Nevertheless, it is a bus born in a period of Hungarian vehicle production that everyone can be justifiably proud of!
The following gallery shows the author’s additional photos of some of Ikarus 260’s and 280’s: